


Drawn to the Blood

by Eurydia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Character Death, Cover Art, Enemies to Lovers, Hux loses the Star War, M/M, One Shot, Spoilers, Suicide, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:08:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28098942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eurydia/pseuds/Eurydia
Summary: With Coruscant in flames and defeat imminent, Chancellor Hux receives an unexpected visit from Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Kylux Secret Santa 2020





	1. Cover Art

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ellalba](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellalba/gifts).



> This is my art and fic for the amazing [Ellalba](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellalba/pseuds/Ellalba), for Kylux Secret Santa 2020! The theme is angst, and the costumes were based on their art of Chancellor Hux and Supreme Leader Ren. 
> 
> The story is inspired by the [concept art](https://i.imgur.com/0HmiIiT.jpg) of Hux committing suicide with a red lightsaber, by Ryan Church. Please note that the accompanying story involves character death and suicide, as I kept the ending the same as the concept art.
> 
> The title, ["Drawn to the Blood"](https://open.spotify.com/track/4D0R0cPruef7gbtp91aFVT?si=1H7UMR1BTrqVofwCHH4BQg), is a song by Sufjan Stevens.


	2. Drawn to the Blood

Chancellor Hux watched the glittering spires of Coruscant burn before his eyes. Dreadnoughts plunged the buildings beneath into darkness. TIES streaked silently across the grey sky. The sounds of the war theater could not penetrate the walls of his office, but Hux could hear them vividly in his mind: the screaming of TIES and the destruction of buildings reminding him of thunderstorms on Arkanis—one of few things he missed from his homeworld.

Usually he’d relish the sight of a city going up in flames. But presently, all he felt was failure, as bitter as the tarine tea in his trembling hands. His orders were to occupy the city. And he failed. 

The price to pay was death. 

His pride would see to it that he would not die in humiliation. He would certainly not die by the hands of rebel scum.

The door to his office opened, uneventfully. It could not have been someone from the Resistance; the security panel would render a quiet entrance impossible. It was none other than his Supreme Leader. 

“Ren. You’re still here,” Hux said, staring at the man’s superimposed figure on the window. His saber was at his side, unignited. Its hilt caught the distant light of an exploding ship.  
“So are you.”  
Ren came to a stop beside him. He was breathing hard, the way he would after removing his helmet. He took one glimpse at the sky, his expression distant as always.  


_Typical Ren_ , he thought. _Self-centered, arrogant, indifferent_ —

“I came here for you,” he said.  
“Come to witness my undoing?”  
“No,” he replied. “To get you out of this building, Chancellor. I knew you wouldn’t be so eager to leave. Even with the evacuations underway.”  


Hux swirled his tea and wished it had been spotchka instead. Something stronger to wash away the hope stirring inside him. Ren was giving him a choice; even if it was the illusion of one, the emotions that came with it felt real. Regret and doubt flew through the wartorn skies of his mind and exploded into a thousand glittering pieces. 

An X-Wing darted past the window, a blur of green and silver. Ren's face twitched as he tracked it with his eyes, like a ship honing in on its target. 

“They will bow to us. This is the last day of the Republic,” said Ren.  
Hux recognized his own words. Coming from the Supreme Leader’s mouth, they sounded more firm and resolute. Almost believable.  
“Another meaningless platitude to maintain loyalty. Something my men have always lacked under my leadership, as you like to say. With the losses we’ve suffered today...it’s only a matter of time.”  


He took another sip of his tea, grimacing as it burned him on its descent.

“I thought you couldn’t stand my speeches.”  
“I can’t.” Ren muttered. Just then, another TIE exploded before them, enough to make the man retreat from the glass. Hux finished his tea and folded his hands behind his back, unphased.  


“We have to go,” Ren insisted, obstructing his view of the skyline. The window rimmed his immense shoulders in silver, sharp as a vibroblade.  
“You don’t get it, do you? What would the First Order make of this? The Supreme Leader helping his _useless_ Chancellor escape while allowing those rebel scum to occupy all of Coruscant?"  
The words left a bad taste in his mouth. The damage his reputation would endure was a fate worse than death. He could not allow it to happen.  


“We’ve lost. _I’ve_ lost.”

“Hux,” there was urgency in his voice. “We may have lost this battle. But we haven’t lost the war.”  
“I’m afraid you’re alone in thinking that,” he stated, without hesitation. “Besides, you’ve wanted me dead for a very long time. Haven’t you?”  
“I know you don’t think highly of me, Gen—Chancellor. But I...” Ren’s voice trailed off. “Not once have I ever wanted you dead.”  


Hux looked away, unable to hold his gaze. Ren [saved](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Resistance_-_General_Hux_1) him once, from the rubble of a sabotaged shuttle—unintentionally. Why, he didn’t know. But when a similar circumstance had presented itself in the Finalizer’s throne room, to spare him or kill him, he had reached for his blaster. The revelation that Ren never wanted him dead made him burn with shame. 

“Do not make this more difficult than it has to be, Ren.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“I am not leaving this room,” Hux stated. “And—and I cannot let them take me alive.”  


Hux stared into his eyes and managed a smile. He wasn’t certain if it was guilt or gratitude that compelled him to speak. All he knew was that the words came easily, as if they were from his heart. 

“When you saved me on that forest planet. Protected me from the Norwoods. The hate that I’ve always held for you...it turned into something else. Something I did not think I was capable of.”

The fire in Ren’s eyes died, leaving behind the gentle embers of pity. Of course it was pity—what else would the man harbor for him? Unknowingly, Hux closed the space between them. He held Ren’s gaze. Light flickered across the dark pools of his eyes at intervals, blinding but transient, like shooting stars across a night sky. 

Perhaps he was mistaken, that it wasn’t pity but sadness. Or was he deluding himself, for thinking that being saved meant that he was loved, that the slightest act of kindness meant that the man cared, that Hux actually mattered to him? 

“Armitage—”  
“Your saber,” he interrupted. “You’ve built it yourself. A fine piece of work. Even if you’ve never thought of it that way. I know you loathe taking orders from me. But I must impose on you, one last time.”  


A silence fell between them. Hux guided Ren’s hand to the hilt of the saber.

“Run me through with your saber,” he commanded, his face darkening.

Ren blinked at him but didn’t move. It was only when he tightened his grip around the man’s wrist did he seem taken aback. He looked at the saber, then his eyes, as if he were searching for something. Reluctance. Regret. A smile to suggest that the order had been in jest. Finding none of these, Ren swallowed hard and fixed him with a determined stare.

“Forgive me,” he murmured. Then, in a softness unfamiliar to Hux, “I...I don’t know if I can do this.”  
“You can. And you must.”  
He reached into his coat pocket, feeling for the cyanide pill stitched onto the lining. He pulled at it until it came free. “I would rather die by your saber than by this,” he said, throwing it across the room. “I cannot let them win. _Please,_ Ren."  


He found himself reaching for his cheek.

"To die by you would be...an honor,” he begged. His hand came away warm and wet. Ren’s tears. The sight of it was enough to make his own tears swell.

Eventually, Ren cupped his face in his hands. It felt intentional to him—not some spur of the moment thought or an impulsive swing of his saber. His gloved thumb grazed his cheek and took a teardrop with it. At this, Hux’s gaze fell to Ren’s quivering mouth. He had known him long enough and knew it meant that he was afraid. 

He gripped Ren’s hand, closing it over the hilt of the saber before finally kissing him. 

Hux felt the rasp of his mouth and the warmth of his breath; tasted the bitterness of morning caf on his tongue. He reached for the golden circlet nestled in his dark curls, lifting it with his fingers and letting it fall to the ground, its metallic clatter interspersing with their moans. And as they neared the end of their kiss—of their world as they knew it—he willed himself to look into Ren’s eyes one last time. 

Hux caught him smiling. And he smiled back.  
Then he pressed the switch on his saber.  


Crimson. Not the crimson of blood but kyber, pulsing straight through his heart. Ren’s hands, gentle and soft, lowering his body to the ground. The cold radiated from the floor and seeped into his bones, into the cauterized opening on his chest. Shivering, Ren held him tighter. His eyelids began to feel heavy, and the warmth of the man’s chest nearly made them flutter shut. But he kept them open. He wanted—needed—to see Ren. One last time. 

With all his strength, Hux rested his hand against the man’s cheek. 

The last thing he ever saw were the starlit eyes of the man he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Ren "saves" Hux on an unnamed forest planet in [_Star Wars: Age of Resistance - General Hux 1_](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Resistance_-_General_Hux_1).


End file.
